Srinagar: CSC SPV and HDFC Bank signed an agreement to enable three lakh Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) of the Common Services Centers to operate as Banking Correspondents of HDFC Bank.
The function for signing and exchange of agreement held between Managing Director, HDFC Bank Aditya Puri and CEO, CSC SPV Dr. Dinesh Kumar Tyagi in the august presence of Hon’ Minister of Electronics & IT Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad and Hon’ Minister of State for Electronics & IT Shri S.S. Ahluwalia Thursday at the Ministry of Electronics & IT, New Delhi.
During the programme, Hon’ Minister Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “Under the agreement, VLEs of CSC will work as Banking Correspondent of HDFC Bank and support the Government initiative to promote financial inclusion and make banking services more accessible in rural areas. This agreement is expected to be a game changer as it would significantly contribute to Government’s objectives of enabling Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) of various schemes.” Hon’ Minister added, “Women, senior citizens and persons with disability will especially get benefitted through this initiative as it would enable withdrawal of financial benefits sent through DBT at CSC, without the need for visiting bank branch. This will facilitate withdrawal and deposit of government entitlements such as payments under MGNREGA as well as various social welfare schemes like widow pension, handicapped and old age pension, etc. He mentioned that it will also help HDFC Bank in getting rural outreach for selling their product and services.” Hon’ Minister thanked Shri Aditya Puri for signing this agreement which will benefit the CSCs and support government initiative in promoting rural entrepreneurship.
Dr. Dinesh Kumar Tyagi, CEO, CSC SPV asserted, “Now, with this agreement, the large network of CSCs will enable rural India to get benefit. It will empower people in terms of financial inclusion, in terms of availing benefits, loans, etc. Apart from this, we have the objective to set up one sanitary napkin unit in every block and HDFC Bank’s contribution in this area will also be a milestone in this mission. We are very grateful to the HDFC Bank for their help.”
“We are proud to partner in this noble endeavour of the Government to make the lives of people better,” said Aditya Puri, Managing Director, HDFC Bank.
“This ties in well with our ongoing social programmes which straddle financial literacy, financial inclusion and skilling at the bottom of the pyramid. This partnership is one more step in this direction,” he added.
The MD, HDFC mentioned that it is proposed to promote 1000 villages as DigiGaon within this financial year in collaboration with CSC SPV. Under its’ commitment to enhancing women’s health and hygiene, the HDFC Bank will also support CSC SPV by funding Stree Swabhiman Sanitary Napkin Manufacturing Units.
With 43 million customers, 4,787 branches and 12,635 ATMs across 2,691 Indian towns and cities, HDFC Bank is one of India’s premier banks. Promoted by Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), India’s leading housing finance company in 1995, the Bank is widely regarded for its use of technology and ability to provide world-class services. Over the past 24 years, it has successfully gained market share in its target customer franchises, even as it maintained healthy profitability and asset quality.
The Bank’s achievements have been consistently recognised in numerous prestigious surveys and awards. The latest in the coveted list being Bank of the Year and Best Large Bank awards in the 15th Business Today India’s Best Banks Survey, 2018.
Shri Pankaj Kumar, Additional Secretary, MEITY, Shri Sanjay Goel, Joint Secretary, MEITY, senior officials from the HDFC Bank and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.
